JUBA LEE
Best Jazz Albums of 2022
Radio Tandem - Italy
All About Jazz —- Ludovico Granvassu
The Jazz Fuse — Steve Sweeney
The Jazz Fuse - Francis Davis
Denver Post - Bret Saunders
Glide Magazine - Jim Hynes
Jazz Trail - Felipe Freitas
Modo Jazz - online magazine
On Da Rock - online magazine
Radio Belgium - Clemens Veerhoven
Rock the Best Music - Laurent Berger
Rock and Roll Globe - Todd Manning
Slate - Carl Wilson
Tom Hull - Tomhull.com
Tracce di Jazz - And Bar
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“Juba Lee is a bitch. Why isn't this guy more famous?”
- Jazz Times, Thomas Stanley
“Technically proficient on any horn with a reed and a great sense of melody but with an adventurous spirit, Avram Fefer should be a household name in jazz.”
- S. Victor Aaron , Something Else
" There's molten fire in Fefer's new album. "
“Juba Lee is a powerful, spiritual free jazz triumph, that highlights the always, soulful and warm sax tones of Fefer, the brilliant guitar playing of Ribot and the magical rhythmic fluency of Revis and Taylor, and all as a tight unit that let the music flow in a totally natural manner.”
— Eyal Hareuveni - Salt Peanuts
“Juba Lee is an unabashed celebration of freedom, interaction, and sonic possibility.”
-Brooklyn Rail, Steve Gutterman
“This album is a treasure that will hit you on the first listen and will get you hooked on a new track every time you listen to it.”
Dark Blue Notes, Burak Sulunbaz
"Juba Lee is … alive, edgy, and engaging. The connections between the players run deep. Fefer’s quartet immediately takes charge and doesn’t let up in this exciting hour plus.”
Glide Magazine, Jim Hynes
“Of all the music released so far by Avram Fefer, he has never sounded so assured, lithe and well-balanced as he does on Juba Lee. This is music informed by outstanding suave composition and eloquent long-limbed melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic invention. A set not to be missed by discerning lovers of music.”
-Jazz De Gama , Raul Da Gama
“Marc Ribot again joins the group of reedman Avram Fefer – a match that really seems to be a highlight in the recent careers of both musicians! Throughout Juba Lee, Revis and Taylor demonstrate why they are such a perfect rhythm section…”
-Dusty Groove
“If you haven't heard of saxophonist Avram Fefer and his quartet, you won't forget him after listening to his new album. The showstopper is "Bedouin Dream.” Its twitching, snaking progress is driven by Revis' insidious ostinato. It is hypnotic and addictive. Joined at the hip in unison, Fefer and Ribot burn the melody into the air, then they separate and trade incitements. If the world were a perfect place of justice and meritocracy, "Bedouin Dream" would make them both famous.”
JazzTimes, Thomas Conrad (Editor’s Pick)
“Propelled and colored by this wonderful quartet, Juba Lee is a refreshing album that glistens with adventurous harmonies and rich melody. Fefer puts a liberating emotional focus in everything he does.”
Jazz Trail , Felipe Freitas
"On the marvelous carpet woven by Revis and Taylor, Fefer and Ribot delight us: it's muscular, it's hair-raising, it cleanses the brain. It's jubilant and exhilarating.”
Le Soir , Jean-Claude Vantroyen
“This band does something I didn’t think possible: intentionally or not, they capture the camaraderie of the late Sonny Sharrock’s 1991 quartet date “Ask The Ages,” with saxophonist Fefer filling the part of Pharoah Sanders (RIP) and Marc Ribot flailing and stunning like Sharrock himself on guitar. A late 2022 entry, but one I’ve had on replay for weeks.”
Denver Post
“Avram Fefer and Marc Ribot's ability to breathe melodies as one man is truly startling, even as contrasting polyrhythms swirl around them on tracks. like Bedouin Dream and Brother Ibrahim.”
- Radio France
" Frayed lyricism, cyclical African rhythms, Hebrew settings, and an eminently sympathetic and inclusive camaraderie. "
- Dan Bilawsky, JazzTimes
“Saxophonist Avram Fefer pens tunes that are rambunctious and serpentine, falling somewhere on a spectrum between Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman.”
- WBGO/NPR
“Avram Fefer comes out swinging on Juba Lee, the second release from his quartet. It must have certainly been fated, as the opener "Showtime" hits hard with its muscular sound. Fefer's tenor saxophone blows out any existing cobwebs before handing off to guitarist Marc Ribot. Fefer built this sound first in trio with bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Chad Taylor… before adding his spiritual brother Ribot. Fefer's connection with Ribot solidifies the jazz-as-roots music aspects of this sound.
- Mark Corroto, All About Jazz
“Working a fertile ground somewhere between post bop and spiritual jazz on Juba Lee, Fefer comes up with strong tunes that take advantage not only of his full-bodied, almost creamy tone, but the special skills of his quartet: guitarist Marc Ribot, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Chad Taylor, bandleaders and fearless adventurers all. And it shows, not only the quartet’s skillful chemistry, but in the sheer joy they take in playing together.
“Sweet Fifteen (For G.T.),” a beautiful duet for bass clarinet and acoustic guitar that expresses joy in knowing Tate as much as sorrow in his loss. If only everyone had a pal as talented and dedicated as Fefer to create a tribute as compelling as Juba Lee.
- The Big Takeover, Michael Toland
“His most recent recording, Juba Lee (Clean Feed Records) …. is an unabashed celebration of freedom, interaction, and sonic possibility. Fefer’s is one of the releases from the end of this year that delves deep, exploring not just songs, but the nature of making sound. The band combines a visceral, searching quality with in-the-pocket swing.”
- The Brooklyn Rail - Steve Gutterman
"Underground musicians who produce music outside of the mainstream deserve the most praise. The chemistry they create is very different. The freely swinging quartet offers African rhythms at different times with maverick improvisations, offering an unusual free improvisation experience. In one of the first interviews I encountered about Avram Fefer in my research, I have seen a header says “Engagement is the key to a meaningful life. Otherwise, why are we here?” The meaning of this sentence is very deep. Engagement to the roots that you come from, loyalty to an old friend, loyalty to the friends whom you are making music with. Master saxophonist Avram Fefer is a member of a generation loyal to the musicians he works with.
They create delicious grooves that are almost danceable… This album is a treasure that will hit you on the first listen and will get you hooked on a new track every time you listen to it. It is a perfect album for those who want to diverge from the mainstream genres and make new discoveries.
-Dark Blue Notes, Burak Sulunbaz
“This band does something I didn't think possible: intentionally or not, they capture the camaraderie of the late Sonny Sharrock's 1991 quartet date "Ask The Ages," with saxophonist Fefer filling the part of Pharah Sanders (RIP) and Marc Ribot flailing and stunning like Sharrock himself on guitar. A late 2022 entry, but one I've had on replay for weeks.”
Denver Post, Bret Saunders
“Over the past two decades Downtown saxist Avram Fefer has consistently evolved and worked his way through a variety of challenges. Mr. Fefer is hard to pin down since he has covered so many bases/genres/bands over this time and always comes as a winner or leading voice on reeds and compositions. Mr. Fefer’s diverse musical background is apparent while listening to this music. I played this disc three times in a row yesterday…
The thing I like most about this disc is this: it sounds closer to spiritual, soulful jazz without ever going into the freer areas that might push a bit too far out for some listeners. The music and vibes have a quietly transcendent feel which runs throughout. I will play this disc again later today as the sun sets and the scent of dinners in my apt building rise past and through my door.”
— Downtown Music Gallery, Bruce Gallanter
“Guitarist Marc Ribot again joins the group of reedman Avram Fefer – a match that really seems to be a highlight in the recent careers of both musicians! Ribot's work in the group is maybe the most focused and meaningful we've heard from him in years – a really back-to-basics return to the strength of his sense of tone and timing – which also really seems to bring out a lot on Fefer too, especially when he hits these straight, soulful lines that come across with a richness that seems distinct from other projects.
Throughout Juba Lee, Revis and Taylor demonstrate why they are such a perfect rhythm section, offering unshakeable, seductive and rolling-cyclical grooves that keep propelling Fefer and Ribot’s free and funky flights, including on the Ornette Coleman-inspired «Gemini Time», or coloring beautifully the touching ballad «Love Is in the Air». This great album is concluded with a beautiful, moving ballad dedicated to Tate, «Sweet Fifteen (for G.T.)», with Fefer on the bass clarinet and Ribot on the acoustic guitar. A great start on the new year!
Europa Jazz
“Juba Lee is … alive, edgy, and engaging. The connections between the players run deep. One of Fefer’s widely known traits is his penchant for African rhythms and African music, which we hear most vividly… The other thread that runs through the recording is the personal tribute to his recently passed close friend, legendary essayist (Village Voice), and bandleader of Burnt Sugar, The Arkestra Chamber, Greg Tate. The whole album was prepared with Tate in mind, the most direct tribute coming in the closing “Sweet Fifteen (For G.T.).” At times fiery, frayed, rumbling, threatening to careen out of control, and rarely pensive until the very last moments, Fefer’s quartet immediately takes charge and doesn’t let up in this exciting hour plus.”
Glide Magazine, Jim Hynes
“The fierce post-free group – formed by avant-garde «all stars» with the leader on sax, Marc Ribot on guitar, Eric Revis on double bass, Chad Taylor on drums – produced nine intense songs with vehement solos that are framed between stripped melodies and obsessive rhythms..
- Il Manifesto , Guido Michelone
“Of all the music released so far by Avram Fefer, he has never sounded so assured, lithe and well-balanced as he does on Juba Lee. This is music informed by outstanding suave composition and eloquent long-limbed melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic invention.
Behind the gruff exterior that often enrobes the notes that float out of the saxophones [or the bass clarinet] of Avram Fefer lies a voice that waxes lyrical on the songful melodies that adorn the album Juba Lee. So, what sort of composer – and therefore musician – is Mr Fefer? Listening to the cyclic structure and sparse melodic rhetoric of the music of the album replete with long exploratory harmonic sojourns you will find an adventure-seeking Mr Fefer. Moreover, you will also find clear allegiances to the richness of bluesy DNA in the musicians who join Mr Fefer in the making of this musical masterpiece.
Drill deeper and it becomes clear that conceptual leaps of faith typical of a brain hard-wired into the mysteries of the outer edges of the intergalactic musical continuum.. The voice, however, is unmistakably Mr Fefer’s. He is minimalist, maximalist, Middle Eastern and yet unmistakably New York City street-hardened American. As a composer, Fefer is conceptual, and wildly pastoral as he evokes the mighty elegance and rhythm of sand dunes, with welcoming caravanserai, and undulating camels. You will taste the grit and azure brilliance in his voice that is often sharp and informed by biting sardonicism, and yet can be heard to melt into his characteristic, lyrical, tender humanity.
From Show Time, through Juba Lee [the song] to Sweet Fifteen [for G.T.], the music is skillfully-wrought, with elaborate, multi-motif near orchestral frameworks always in perfect perspective with appreciable textural and dynamic variety. A set not to be missed by discerning lovers of music.”
Jazz De Gama , Raul Da Gama
“If you haven't heard of saxophonist Avram Fefer and his quartet, you won't forget him after listening to his new album. He is a commanding, implacable, exhilarating tenor saxophonist. He also kills on alto.
The opening track, "Showtime," a basic, rousing anthem, sounds like a song by a bebopper until Fefer blows it up with his blasting, guttural solo. The showstopper is "Bedouin Dream.” Its twitching, snaking progress is driven by Revis' insidious ostinato. It is hypnotic and addictive. Joined at the hip in unison, Fefer and Ribot burn the melody into the air, then they separate and trade incitements. If the world were a perfect place of justice and meritocracy, "Bedouin Dream" would make them both famous.”
JazzTimes, Thomas Conrad (Editor’s Pick)
“The saxophonist blows in and out, and yet his improvisation is so cohesive as he mixes bopish lines and avant-garde audacity. Propelled and colored by this wonderful quartet, Juba Lee is a refreshing album that glistens with adventurous harmonies and rich melody. Fefer puts a liberating emotional focus in everything he does.”
Jazz Trail , Felipe Freitas
“Nine tunes invested with a hearty helping of foot-tapping swing.”
Jazz Word , Ken Waxman
Every now and then a musician appears who unequivocally continues the tradition of free jazz. The American saxophonist Avram Fefer (1965) is such a person. In guitarist Marc Ribot, another free-spirited spirit, he has found his perfect musical partner.
Fefer goes full on tenor saxophone from the opening track 'Showtime'. He has a big and heavy sound that matches guns like Dewey Redman and David S. Ware. His rhythmic approach is reminiscent of the classic Ornette Coleman Quartet. The rhythm section, with double bassist Eric Revis and drummer Chad Taylor, provides a nice continuous pulse.
'Juba Lee' is really a beautiful production and forms a nice follow-up to his previous albums. A musician who certainly deserves more attention than he has received to date.
- Jazzenzo , Cyriel Pluimakers
"This is the second album he has recorded as a quartet with the unclassifiable guitarist Marc Ribot, which brings together the tradition of folklore, roots and the avant-garde. On the marvelous carpet woven by Revis and Taylor, Fefer and Ribot delight us: it's muscular, it's hair-raising, it cleanses the brain. It's jubilant and exhilarating, if you can play on words on the title of the disc; And it makes you melancholic too, with the tribute to Greg Tate, played by Fefer on bass clarinet and Ribot on acoustic guitar.”
Le Soir , Jean-Claude Vantroyen
There's a sense of freedom throughout this fine album that simply can't be commodified which elsewhere is a fault line across a lot of contemporary jazz, when cats do the right thing for the wrong reasons. There is no such bad faith anywhere here; one of the reasons why it gets you so deep within.
Marlbank
Fefer, who we meet on both tenor and alto saxophone and bass clarinet and who has distinct voices on all the horns, has written nine songs that ensure that all four musicians are shown individually and, especially, as a collective.
Some are rock, some are free, some are melodic and beautiful, some are open, but everything is highly personal and very tough and exciting. Fefer is an exceptionally exciting acquaintance and the three others are exactly that - once again.
Nettavisen, Thor Hammerø
“….. this excellent follow-up, Juba Lee. There's a great vibe throughout the album, and if you love post-Ornette themes delivered in swinging fashion, it would be hard to top this music.
Fefer has a great, dry tone as distinctive as they come.
A great outing by a group with limitless potential.”
NYC Jazz Record, Robert Bush
“Inspired by horn players such as Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Stanley Turrentine above all, Fefer enriched his powerful sound with African and Middle Eastern influences.
The album has a rather traditional beginning with Showtime, where Fefer demonstrates that he has completely assimilated the lessons of the old masters.
Undoubtedly Fefer is an excellent instrumentalist, gifted with uncommon technique that allows him to deal with different styles, always with due elegance.
Brother Ibrahim…. intends to be a hymn to human brotherhood, noting how the author's name, i.e. Avram, is a Hebrew variant of Abraham and of the Arabic Ibrahim, as if to say that if the orthographic variations nevertheless betray the same linguistic root, even all men are part of a single family, despite their apparent differences.
On Gemini Time, Fefer flies like the wind, passing with ease between Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman.
Sweet Fifteen (for G.T.) closes the album with a ballad of vibrant beauty.
Juba Lee is a great musical work, and subjected to numerous plays, it does lose any points along the way. “
-Off Topic, Riccardo Talamazzi
“Fefer’s abilities as a composer and bandleader are impressive; he writes eclectic, memorable tunes that are unpredictably varied yet stylistically cohesive, giving ample room to his bandmates to interpret the music as they see fit.
Propelled by the expressive contributions of his stellar sidemen, Juba Lee is a high point in an already impressive discography.”
- Point of Departure, Troy Collins
The number of moods and styles on Juba Lee is stunning. If Testament (2019) dazzled listeners, Juba Lee (2022) will exceed their already high expectations.
The album closes with “Sweet Fifteen (for G.T.)”, a tune dedicated to the memory of Greg Tate, whose work as a music journalist is monumental, and he also was the bandleader of Burnt Sugar and founder of the Black Rock Coalition. But the melancholy of the tune is much more than a recounting of his accolades, this is an emotionally powerful piece befitting the friendship between Fefer and Tate.
If Juba Lee provides a joyous center for the album, “Sweet Fifteen (for G.T.)” provides a more poignant contrast. The tension between these two polar moods opens the album up to a wide variety of expressions. This release covers an amazing amount of ground but each tune is equally convincing. The musicianship is stunning and Fefer’s role as both composer and bandleader is impressive. He provides strong enough material to make Juba Lee sound cohesive yet unpredictable, while also giving room for each of these heavyweight jazz musicians to be themselves.
Juba Lee is an absolute joy and not an album that listeners should let slip by.
- Rock and Roll Globe - Todd Manning
“The quartet opens with the soulful and sensual groove of Showtime that cements Fefer and Ribot’s organic ability to breathe melodies as one and their almost telepathic interplay. This gift is even more clear when the quartet juggles with polyrhythmic patterns with its middle-Eastern vibes on pieces like Bedouin Dream and Brother Ibrahim. Throughout Juba Lee, Revis and Taylor demonstrate why they are such a perfect rhythm section, offering unshakeable, seductive and rolling-cyclical grooves that keep propelling Fefer and Ribot’s free and funky flights, including on the Ornette Coleman-inspired Gemini Time, or coloring beautifully the touching ballad Love Is in the Air. This great album is concluded with a beautiful, moving ballad dedicated to Greg Tate, Sweet Fifteen (for G.T.), with Fefer on the bass clarinet and Ribot on the acoustic guitar. A great start on the new year!”
Written In Music , JAN GRANLIE
“Juba Lee was recorded at EastSide Sound in New York in March 2022 and represents a musical triumph for Fefer who had to overcome personal demons in the aftermath of the death of one of his closest friends, the legendary essayist and bandleader of Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber (in which Fefer was a key player), Greg Tate. And, indeed, Juba Lee is a powerful, spiritual free jazz triumph, that highlights the always, soulful and warm sax tones of Fefer, the brilliant guitar playing of Ribot and the magical rhythmic fluency of Revis and Taylor, and all as a tight unit that let the music flow in a totally natural manner.
“ The quartet… cements Fefer and Ribot’s organic ability to breathe melodies as one and their almost telepathic interplay. Throughout Juba Lee, Revis and Taylor demonstrate why they are such a perfect rhythm section, offering unshakeable, seductive and rolling-cyclical grooves that keep propelling Fefer and Ribot’s free and funky flights”
- Salt Peanuts, Eyal Hareuveni
“Fefer and his fellow New York jazz players play very naturally, very spontaneously, but this is an album whose spontaneity and naturalness are combined with a very thoughtful concept. Fefer's great advantage is the enormous experience he has behind him, which allows him to create music based on certain pre-conceived values easily, naturally, as if it were created at that very moment, and where these conceptualizations are heard at the core but also take the form of poems and turn them into sound essays.
The title track goes in the direction of free jazz…This is free jazz in which the musicians listen to each other intensely and in which there really is that egalitarian standard that everyone should contribute equally to the composition. However, we should certainly not lose sight of the fact that this composition is simultaneously based on a clear theme (with a klezmer flavor) and a hard-bop approach to it, and that even audiences who are afraid of free jazz will find a lot of familiar things in it.
Juba Lee is a great ride through Fefer's interests but also through the performance of some of the best musicians who have been operating in American jazz in recent years and even decades. This is unobtrusively eclectic, accessible avant-garde jazz.
- Jazz Sunday
“It starts from the enveloping and iterative post bop phrasing of " Showtime ", a highly effective piece that showcases the peculiarities of the leader, more attentive to directing and dispensing functional stimuli to the collective result, than to his own role as soloist.”
-Tracce Di Jazz, And Bar
“Saxophonist Avram Fefer pens tunes that are rambunctious and serpentine, falling somewhere on a spectrum between Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman. Juba Lee is the second outing for a new quartet that adds Marc Ribot to Fefer’s longstanding trio with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Chad Taylor. The veteran guitarist is an apt choice, jolting the band with rough-hewn brashness and slippery fluidity.”
-WBGO , Brady
The new album shows off Fefer’s gifts for melody and songcraft, along with the band’s knack for strong grooves, spiced with a taste for open-field experimentation.
Album closer “Sweet Fifteen (for G.T.)” - scored for bass clarinet and acoustic guitar, the piece’s lovely minor-key melody and bossa nova groove (in 15/8!) are like a final benediction and declaration of faith.
— Jazziz Jon Garelick
Rangy, freewheeling, and frequently provocative, Juba Lee is indeed something to celebrate.
If he keeps making records like this, he’ll be hard to ignore.
“Say You’re Sorry,” a descent into rubato delta death-blues.
“Exuberantly recommended”
“Fefer’s persistent dedication to his art has given listeners another notable record of his prodigious creativity. “
We Jazz Magazine
ISSUE 07 SPRING 2023
Davis Mittleman
“This album is a treasure that will hit you on the first listen…”
-DarkBlueNotes.com